FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT LICENSES - PAGE 2

The state has launched a program to streamline the eye exam process for people over 40 who are renewing their driver's licenses. Ophthalmologists and optometrists who sign up for the free program can submit a patient's vision screening results online to the Motor Vehicle Administration. Eligible drivers can then renew their driver's licenses through the agency's website or self-service kiosk. Drivers who use an MVA office can use the vision certification to eliminate the vision screening step in the renewal process.

The idea of limiting package goods liquor store licenses by statute in Howard County did not survive the General Assembly's 90-day session, but the spirit of the local bill may have. Instead of a bill that decreed no more than one carry-out liquor store per 2,600 residents in each of the five county planning districts, the bill unanimously approved by the full General Assembly requires the county's Alcoholic Beverage Hearing Board to specifically address the need and community desire for a new store, the number and location of existing licenses, and the impact a new store might have on traffic, crime, parking and general public health and safety.

Thousands of immigrants living here without legal permission will start the new year demonstrating skills in parallel parking and two-point turns in hopes of becoming licensed drivers in Maryland. Maryland joins a handful of states on Jan. 1 that issue so-called "second-tier" licenses that allow immigrants who do not have full legal documentation to drive on Maryland roads, register cars and obtain insurance. The licenses will not suffice as federal identification. Nearly 13,000 immigrants have signed up to take driving tests in the coming weeks, according to state officials.

Hunters, anglers and those hoping to drive off-road vehicles will need a COMPASS to get their respective licenses and registrations. A pilot program recently implemented at seven regional service centers and 27 sports license locations will soon be accessible at home on the computer or over the phone with a live operator. A new online registration program called COMPASS will be available at the end of the month, according to a spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources. "We are excited to have COMPASS - a modernized and upgraded licensing and customer service platform," Len Singel, chief information officer of DNR, said in a statement.

Harford County is streamlining its dog licensing procedures so that pet owners soon will be able to buy licenses online, among other changes. The county Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits said the changes are the result of Harford County Council Bill 13-47, introduced at the department's request and passed unanimously by the council in December. The legislation, which takes effect Feb. 18, allows the department to take advantage of a new licensing system expected to be operational in July, the county said in a news release.

The Sun's recent editorial states that giving drivers licenses to persons in our country illegally will "help ensure that people who want to drive on the state's roads meet minimum safety standards and that their vehicles are registered and insured" ("Licensed to drive," Jan. 6). Exactly how will this happen? Whether a person has a license or not has no bearing at all on the registration of a vehicle, nor on whether the vehicle is insured. Additionally, the drivers license test administered to a non-English speaking individual is done with an interpreter.

Dozens of Maryland drivers who had racked up enough penalty points to lose their licenses apparently got some extra time behind the wheel thanks to a software glitch at the Motor Vehicle Administration, according to state auditors. The audit, made public last week, found that over a six month period ending in May 2009, MVA officials were not aware that at least 139 drivers had accumulated 12 points — enough to have a license revoked — but were still being allowed to drive. The findings were the result of a review of 5,515 cases by the Office of Legislative Audits, as part of a review that also listed 12 other problems.

By Keith L. Alexander and Ann E. Marimow and The Washington Post | March 4, 2010

Just sitting down at a desk at the marriage bureau at D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday was too much for Angelisa Young. She cried so hard that she eventually had to bury her face in her fiancee's chest. About a half-hour later, Young and her partner, Sinjoyla Townsend, who met 13 years ago in a constitutional law class at the University of the District of Columbia, became the first same-sex couple to apply to be married in the district as the city officially joined five states in allowing gay marriage.

With Maryland's crabbing season getting under way Friday, the state is making a new bid to buy back commercial fishing licenses, particularly from the 650 license-holders officials estimate are no longer active on the Chesapeake Bay. The Department of Natural Resources mailed buyback offers last month to all 2,258 people with unlimited tidal fishing or crab harvester licenses. The amount offered ranges from a base of $4,000 for the crab harvester license, which allows the holder to fish with up to 300 crab pots, to $12,000 for a tidal fishing license with authorization for 900 crab pots in the bay. State officials say the buyback is intended to keep pressure on the bay's rebuilding crab population from soaring if all the holders of unused licenses were to go back on the water.

The O'Malley administration is seeking to add new weaponry to the state's tax-collecting arsenal with a proposal to deny driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to those who fail to pay their taxes. The proposal, contained in O'Malley's budget reconciliation bill, would let the state refuse to issue or renew licenses and registrations for those who have unpaid, undisputed tax obligations. The administration expects the measure to help it collect an additional $40 million over the next two years as the state scratches for every dollar it can collect to help close a $1.3 billion shortfall.